


The Chase

by Lunarflare14



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M, POV Derek Hale, Sterek Week, Werewolf Biology, Werewolf Culture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-28
Updated: 2015-10-28
Packaged: 2018-04-28 13:35:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5092697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunarflare14/pseuds/Lunarflare14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek was a werewolf. There was no wolf part, no human part. Only the one, the whole Derek Hale. So he’s use to having the knee jerk reaction of a predator. It’s still in there, under the generations of restraint and conditioning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Chase

Derek was a werewolf. There was no wolf part, no human part. Only the one, the whole Derek Hale. So he’s use to having the knee jerk reaction of a predator. It’s still in there, under the generations of restraint and conditioning.

His mother called it the predatory drive, like something off the discovery channel. Wild predators have a perfectly balanced predatory drive. They want to see it through to the end. From stalk to consume, it keeps them alive. But the Hales are not wild. They have the ability to reason and overrule the instinct. She taught them to recognize the drive when they felt it, to control how they responded to it. They were predators, not killers.

The instincts have other ways of emerging though, not just during the hunt. A lot of werewolves liked to become business men and lawyers. Often the course of closing a business deal or a legal case followed a similar progression to hunting. There was a reason “going in for the kill” was used in the business world so often.

The predatory drive was the only time his mother ever likened werewolves to dogs. Through years of domestication their predatory instincts get all mixed up. They don’t need a perfect balance. In fact, different breeds were bred for different parts of that instinct to be utilized. Werewolves, while not part of a grand eugenics experiment, were a bit more domesticated then their wolf brothers. Their predatory drive wasn’t perfectly balanced either.

Growing up he had the perfect example of the drive weighing towards one particular instinct: his sister.

Laura had this weird thing for taking things apart.  Her food, the lawnmower, anything she could her hands on. Dissect. Pick through it. Pull it apart. It was strong in her.

Derek couldn’t count how many times he’d go to use the car and found it in pieces in the garage.

“Laura! I had plans!”

“You’ve got legs. Walk.”

Derek didn’t really feel it at all. Even back during the hunts his family went on as a pack, Derek was really only following his mom. He couldn’t say he felt left out. It seemed liked a nuisance.

By the time Laura was gone and he returned to Beacon Hills, he’d pretty much given up on it. He wasn’t a very good hunter.

That is was til he met Stiles and Scott in the woods. They turned to leave and something in Derek’s gut whispered _chase_.

He chalked it up to Scott being a new werewolf and himself suddenly packless.

But then, one afternoon he was heading for the grocery store and saw Stiles head into a coffee shop. He immediately pulled over and went in before he could think of why. Stiles apparently had already gotten his coffee and was sitting alone at a table reading some print outs.

“Sir, can I help you?” the barista asked. Derek jerked his head around to look at her. She had asked it like she had asked him several times and not gotten a response. When Derek looked back at Stiles the teen was staring. So he ordered a cup of coffee and left. He didn’t want coffee, and he had no business with the kid, so why had he gone in in the first place?

It kept happening.

Derek would find himself tailing Stiles around town if he saw the kid. He normally only stopped following when the kid found him out. Once he followed him from school to his house and just sat parked a few doors down, staring at the sheriffs home.

Their usual interactions were marked with general hostility. Why the sudden need to follow him around? What the hell was wrong with him?

He’d been following Stiles down a dark street when he was attacked by something in the night. When Derek got out of his car and hurtled into it they both hit the ground. It was faster and was gone by the time Derek could scramble to his feet.

Had it been the Alpha? It was big and hairy enough.

“Are you stalking me?” Derek whirled around to face the scrawny teen.

The answer was yes but he wasn’t about to tell Stiles that. It made him sound like a stalker “Why would I be stalking you?” Derek asked. He really wanted to know the answer.

Stiles failed his arms in exasperation. “Are you shitting me? You’re the one who keeps following me!”

So Stiles had noticed.

Time to back track.

“I just saved your life, you know.”

Stiles glared at Derek, and Derek just stared back with a raised eyebrow.

Stiles looked away first. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Derek walked back to his car and drove off without looking back.

It was easier to keep his distance after that, having been confronted.

But the instinct was still there.

Through killing Peter, and becoming Alpha, and making a pack, Derek had great difficulty keeping his course every time he caught a whiff of Stiles. As he got to know Stiles, began to trust Stiles, the instinct just became worse and worse.

As much as he hated dog analogies, he was like a dog chasing a car. He’s not sure what he’ll do when he catches it, but he still feels the compulsion to chase. Some days he can keep it in check but others. Stiles sent is fresh in the air and the wind is just right. He knew he could follow and find Stiles no matter where the kid was in town.

During the summer Scott goes off looking for himself and Stiles is suddenly seeking Derek out. He comes to the loft, to the house, to that coffee shop that Derek became a regular at for no reason (not because Stiles was a regular).

He was chasing after Stiles. And he was gaining ground.

It had become almost an obsession. Every smile, and laugh, and irritated eye roll filled him with warmth he hadn’t felt in a long time. If he never stopped getting reactions out of Stiles it would be too soon.

It was a Saturday and Stiles came in with a DVD and enough Taco Bell to feed a small militia. It was becoming a thing with them, trying to catch him up on years of pop culture he’d been trying to ignore. “Movie 23 of your introduction to the modern times: The Prestige. It’ll blow your mind.” Derek followed Stiles to the kitchen but Stiles shoved the DVD at his chest. “Stop with the stalking and pop this in would you?”

Derek frowned but did as told.

Once he was done putting it his DVD player, he went back to the kitchen where Stiles was still sorting out the food. “I could have sworn we were past the creeping around after me bit of our acquaintance.”

“I didn’t creep around after you.”

“You did. You didn’t think I knew but I did. You were always following me. Like always.” Stiles handed him a plate of his food. “You aren’t exactly stealthy and your car is like the most distinct car in town.”

Derek stared down at his food, before setting it on the counter. “And you let me. You only said something that one time.”

Stiles blinked. “Well, I mean, it… I guess. It… It isn’t important.”

“I couldn’t help it.”

Stiles glared at him. “Way to not take responsibility for your actions.”

“No I mean… every instinct I have tells me to follow you… to chase you.”

Stiles turned a bright red, despite looking confused. “Well, you consider me caught. Now stop.”

Derek couldn’t help it. He leaned in and kissed Stiles. Just like that Stiles melted. When Derek pulled back, Stiles face was completely blank.

“Yes. Very much caught.”

Derek smiled. “Good.”


End file.
